| “ | Now you will see a glimpse of what I am. How many worlds do you think your feeble mind can process before it turns to sludge? I'd say less than one. | „ |
| ~ Brainiac torturing Superman by uploading the knowledge of 10,000 worlds he's conquered and destroyed, proving his point that he is everything and knows everything, including right and wrong. |
Hi! So, I am back with my fourth proposal now, and I have another one for you and this one was bound to happen. Since my Nekron proposal originated from DC comics, this would probably be my second DC proposal, thankfully I don’t have to compare this one to other DC comic villains because it is a movie original. Honestly, I wanted to do the villain from My Adventures with Superman, but someone already beat me to the punch (Oh well). Thankfully, I knew about another one that is a definite qualifier and another one of my own creations. So, let the trial begin for Brainiac!
What's the Work[]
Superman: Unbound is a 2013 animated superhero film, based on the 2008 comic book story arc "Superman: Brainiac".
"After discovering a scout that has crashed on Earth, Superman hunts down Brainiac to save the bottled Kryptonian city of Kandor, which is miniaturized and held aboard Brainiac's ship. With the help of Supergirl, Superman battles Brainiac, who has been wreaking havoc across the universe by destroying planets and stealing cities. With his sights now set on Earth, Superman must do everything he can to stop him."
Who is the candidate?[]
| “ | I am the knowledge and strength of 10,000 worlds. I am flesh and machine. I am becoming everything. | „ |
| ~ Brainiac to Superman in their first confrontation before beating and restraining him. |
Brainiac, born Vril Dox, was a Coluan scientist with cybernetic and genetic enhancements and a ship that acts as an extension of himself who was obsessed with collecting all the knowledge of the universe. He travels galaxy after galaxy to capture major cities and then bottle them up for further study. But because of a bug in his design, he can't learn everything there is about the universe because life is always changing, so he destroys worlds so he can create his own information and forces the citizens collected to do the same. One of the cities he collected was Kandor of Krypton which had a major effect on Kara Zor-El, also known as Supergirl and cousin of Superman. Once he discovers them, Brainiac attempts to study them and then attempts to do the same thing to their new home, Earth.
What has he done?[]
| NOTE: For this section, I had to copy and paste from his page, but since I wrote and created the entire article and have pretty much been its only editor, I would think it’s ok. If not, let me know. |
In a desire to learn everything there is about the universe, Vril Dox subjected himself to extensive cybernetic and genetic experiments which enhanced his brain and body, until he became the giant alien cyborg known as Brainiac. Using a highly advanced ship he built and bonded to, he traveled the universe discovering different planets and seeking their knowledge. In his research, Brainiac found a flaw in his programming: Life on planets is always changing and adapting and evolving, which would make learning everything about the universe impossible. Unable to accept this, Brainiac sent drones to scout the planets and kill anyone who interfered with his research or just didn't care about them and then captured a capital city to add to his collection, before destroying the planet by firing a missile into the sun and any nearby planet, ending the change.
One of the planets Brainiac visited was Krypton, where he attacked the capital city Kandor, sending drones to kill any resisting Kryptonians, three of which were almost Zor-El, Alura In-Ze, and Kara Zor-El. Despite the sheer effort of the Kryptonian army, Brainiac overpowered them all with his army of drones killing Kryptonians who he found redundant and capturing ones who could be useful. Brainiac then arrived with his ship to capture Kandor, miniaturizing and collecting it with any Kryptonians still inside. Lastly, Brainiac prepared to fire a missile into the red sun but detected that Krypton was on the verge of destruction anyway, so he left the planet to its fate. Kryptonian scientists, like Zor-El, collected damaged drones left behind and decoded their memories to learn more about their creator Brainiac, so they can find and fight him to get back Kandor and its people. However, by doing so, Brainiac was attracted back to Krypton where Kryptonians from Argo City, including Zor-El and Alura In-Ze, arrived to free Kandor and its people but were captured and integrated into the bottled city of Kandor.
Once he adds the cities and people to his collection, he uses sentries to keep them from becoming subversive or acting out of control. That way, Brainiac can control the environment and dictate the people but still give them what they need to survive. Watching and listening to them constantly, Brainiac keeps the people from becoming subversive so that they can never escape and can keep studying them without any environmental changes.
Three Decades after Krypton was destroyed, Brainiac sends more drones to scout for new planets ripe for invasion and one of them manages to reach Earth. Superman then arrives to stop the drone from crashing into Arizona, thinking it is a meteor until the drone transforms and engages Superman in combat. The drone seemed to rival Superman in strength until he knocked it away and just as the drone was about to transmit its coordinates to Brainiac, Superman destroyed the drone and pulled out the transmitter. After analyzing the drone he destroyed and learning from Kara Zor-El about Brainiac, who he is, and what he'd done, Superman sought to go after Brainiac and stop him from capturing cities and rescue Kandor.
Traveling the different star systems, Superman learned more about Brainiac from his uncle Zor-El's notes to the Kryptonian Science Council including how Brainiac's method is to explore the galaxy, upload knowledge into his neural core the worlds he encounters, and then destroy those worlds. Superman then tracked Brainiac to the planet Laroo where he is currently invading and killing citizens with his drones. Superman arrives and aids the Laru citizens in destroying drones to locate Brainiac and Kandor. Brainiac then arrives with his ship and captures the capital city of Laroo. Superman attempts to breach the ship and stop Brainiac until Brainiac fires a missile into their sun, destroys Laroo, and incapacitates Superman. Brainiac discovers Superman's survival and captures him for further study.
Taking Superman to his examination room, Brainiac probes him and uploads his knowledge to his neural core as his drones prepare to dissect him. When Superman wakes up, he destroys his drones before they can subdue him. Seeing three unconscious Laroo citizens, Superman attempts to free them, but Brainiac completes their analysis and creates pods for them as he stores them away and Superman flies through the ship. Superman then discovers his collection room where each bottled city is placed according to the planet it came from Superman enters to find Kandor and Brainiac discovers his presence as he awakens from his downloading process. Superman then confronts Brainiac as he towers over Superman and Brainiac proceeds to attack him and reveals that he knew Krypton would be destroyed, so he did not need to destroy it himself. After a struggle, Brainiac gets the upper hand on Superman and restrains him. Using Superman's mind scan, Brainiac discovers he's been living on the planet Earth and charts a course for Earth using the coordinates from his spacecraft, before integrating Superman into the bottled city of Kandor.
In Kandor, Superman discovers that Brainiac has completely dominated the Kandorians, forcing them to give up any hope of escape accept, while also keeping them the same age as they were over thirty years ago. Meeting with his uncle and aunt, Zor-El and Alura In-Ze, Superman learns more about Brainiac and the flaw in his programming and plots to escape by using his sentries and what little strength he has due to the red sun. Superman escapes but promises to come back and free the Kandorians.
Superman then returns to Brainiac's collection room where he recharges himself and then attacks Brainiac as he is downloading information from his pod. Restrained and wounded, Brainiac rants about his undefeated superiority and how he will conquer Earth before Superman knocks him unconscious and destroys his engine room to disable his ship. Superman then takes Kandor and returns to Earth, despite knowing that Brainiac won't stay down for long. His assumption is right as Brainiac regains consciousness and repairs his ships. He aggressively travels to Earth to reclaim Kandor, collect a major city, and kill Superman.
Brainiac then arrives on Earth and hovers over Metropolis as he sends drones to attack the citizens, capturing the valuable ones and killing the redundant ones. Despite the best efforts of the US military and the Daily Planet employees, the robots overpowered them all, until Superman and Supergirl arrived to destroy them. Brainiac then activates a beam that bottles up Metropolis and then captures Superman and Supergirl as they are about to attack him.
Superman then wakes up in Brainiac's pod and Brainiac tortures him by attaching cables to his head and overloading the knowledge he collected into his head, causing him pain. Brainiac then scolds Superman for trying to stop him and his ship, confessing that Earth had nothing to offer him and regretted capturing it, but he places it in his collection anyway. He also had his drones prepare to study and dissect Supergirl. As he tortures Superman, Brainiac locates Kandor from Superman's mind and prepares to retrieve it from his Fortress, revealing that he hasn't destroyed Earth yet. Brainiac mocks Earth and questions why Superman and Supergirl would call it home, Superman retorts that it is and that it gives him strength as he breaks out of the pod, crushes Brainiac's skull, and throws him in a hole.
Superman then takes Metropolis and rescues Kara from being dissected. Brainiac then returns with an army of drones and swears to take back Kandor and destroy Earth as he belittles Superman and Supergirl slugs him in the face and orders his army to attack them. As Superman prepares to attack Brainiac, he launches cables at him which Superman catches and shocks Brainiac's neural core and knocks him out, while also shocking and pushing back Superman. Even when knocked out, Brainiac orders a missile to be fired into Earth's sun, destroying the sun, Earth, and any other nearby planet. Supergirl then flies to destroy the missile as Superman continues to battle Brainiac. Growing tired and aggravated, Brainiac declares that he will forego Kandor and will use whatever knowledge he has from Krypton and will use Superman as a specimen. Brainiac punches Superman into his collection room and restrains him with shock cables.
Brainiac laments it is pointless to resist as Superman remembers Zor-El's theory about Brainiac and freezes him out of his ship as they continue to fight. They land in a nearby swamp and engage in a brutal fight which Brainiac almost wins, until he is overwhelmed by everything that is on Earth: The sounds, the sights, the smells, the feeling, etc... Superman tells him that he knows nothing about these worlds, only what he collected and controlled, but now has to experience the chaos of life itself. Supergirl then catches the missile and launches it away from the sun and it explodes, saving the planets from Brainiac. The strain of experiencing life itself proves to be too much for Brainiac and Superman beats him, and then Brainiac's cybernetics begin to burn and fall apart until only his neural core remains.
After Metropolis and Kandor were restored, Brainiac's remains were taken to the Fortress of Solitude. Just then, his neural core began to glow, meaning that Brainiac is still alive and possibly ready for round 2.
Heinous Standards[]
Since he is the only villain in the movie (aside from terrorists and traffickers), Brainiac pretty much sets the heinous standards. Let me tell you about them:
Brainiac invades planets to capture a populated city, while also sending his drones to lobotomize the citizens because they were considered redundant and kept the rest for further study. Once captured, the city is to be bottled up, shrunk, and kept in his collection room where he studies the citizens, while also enforcing a sort of totalitarian rule over them so that they don't become subversive and mess up his research. Afterward, Brainiac would launch a missile into the planet's sun that would destroy the sun, Earth, and any other nearby planet because he wanted to be the only one to possess their knowledge and to prevent any life changes. Brainiac is said to have done this to 10,000 worlds because he claims to be the "Knowledge and Strength of 10,000 worlds," which would mean his kill count is insanely high. We've even seen him do this to Krypton, Laroo, and Earth, and with all the cities in his collection room, I would say this isn't a case of offscreen villainy.
In the present, Brainiac could also be a personal enemy to the heroes, Superman and Supergirl, since he caused the tragedy in Supergirl's life by taking her home, Kandor, and her friends which gave her major PTSD and overpowered Superman with his towering physique and strength. After he sent a scout drone to Earth, Superman was determined to find him and when he did, he was conquering Laroo and killing many civilians. He then captured Superman, scanned his mind, and attempted to dissect him, before he broke out. After beating and restraining Superman, Brainiac realized he had come from a planet called Earth and tried to invade it, even thanking Superman for giving him a new planet to study. After invading Earth and capturing Metropolis, Brainiac tortured Superman by downloading knowledge into his mind hoping he would be left braindead, and attempted to dissect Supergirl when he captured her.
In the last moments of the movie, Brainiac attempts to destroy Earth and its solar system and once that is done, he would crush Metropolis because he thought it offered him nothing. He tried to beat Superman to death on Earth when he realized he was losing.
Freudian Excuse/Mitigating Factors[]
| “ | Brainiac: I did not destroy Krypton after uploading my specimens because the planet was about to destroy itself. You exist because I allowed you to be. Superman: I hope you’re not expecting a thank-you. Brainiac: It was an error. Superman: Got that right. |
„ |
| ~ Brainiac and Superman. |
No empathy, no remorse, no care, and no respect for anyone that was shown within the movie, no one but himself. Before the ending, Brainiac scolded Superman's compassion and sentimentality for Earth and humanity, calling it disgusting and weak, because he only believes in logic and rarely shows any emotion. There are a few moments within the movie where he shows sadism, narcissism, rage, and fear and most of these moments are towards Superman. There is even one scene during the invasion of Earth, where one of the robots was lobotomizing a human and it looked like he was smiling, now, the robots and his ship are extensions of him which means this is what he feels, he is taking glee killing and capturing humans. He even lets his rage go when Superman continuously stands in his way and decides to kill Superman and destroy Earth anyway, despite wanting to use Superman as a specimen and retrieve Kandor from him.
One of the other factors worth talking about is the fact that out of all of the planets he collected and destroyed, he chose to spare Krypton and took Kandor instead. However, this wasn't out of genuine mercy, he did it for pragmatic reasons because he knew that Krypton was going to destroy itself anyway and saved himself a missile, which he later said was an error. Despite not destroying Krypton, he still put the planet through Hell since his drones killed many Kryptonians through lobotomy and then kept the Kryptonians in the bottled-up Kandor living under a totalitarian rule, unable to age and unable to act freely. Also, when Superman came to him and discovered that he was living on a planet with intelligent life, Earth, Brainiac thought it wasn’t such an error after all because he had a new planet to collect and destroy. Overall, Brainiac's decision to spare Krypton was merely strategic and not worth his time if he knew Krypton was going to die anyway, but it was also his arrogance that unintentionally spared Superman and Supergirl, which would lead to his downfall.
After experimenting on himself with cybernetic and genetic enhancements, he becomes an artificial intelligence but this doesn’t give him moral agency because he did this to himself willingly. After all, he wanted to know everything there is to know about the universe and he had a high intellect back when he was only a Coluan scientist, his intelligence just became higher with the more knowledge he collected. He also claims to be the knowledge and strength of 10,000 worlds and that he is everything, which also means he has a god complex too, considering how all the cities he's collected are placed around him. He is the center of his own created universe, which Superman regards as egocentric.
Lastly, in the final battle between Brainiac and Superman, Superman takes him down to Earth's surface in a swamp where he is overwhelmed by everything on Earth: leaves, dragonflies, highways, mud, kids, trees, etc... This causes him to panic and system to overload and combust, but I wouldn’t call this sympathy or mitigation, I'd call it karma. Brainiac's whole purpose was to learn everything there was about the universe. Still, as Zor-El pointed out, it’s impossible to know everything because life is always changing and moving forward and evolving, so when Brainiac started to process life on Earth, it proved to be too much for him. Brainiac saw it as chaos and noise and wanted it gone. Hence, why he destroyed planets and created his own universe, so he could be the one in control with no changes and no chaos. Superman even called him out for hiding in his ship like a coward while only ever knowing his safe bottled versions of life, even when Brainiac asked how to block it all out, Superman said he learned to live with it, but Brainiac can't or won't. To put it in short terms, Karma is a bitch!
Final Verdict[]
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And... what do you think?